The Further Adventures of Scamper the Penguin
by Pennsylvania Jones
Summary: The year is 1989, three years after Scamper the Penguin's initial birth.  As he breeds with Snowflake and takes care of his children, they cross paths with terrorists that are plotting against their own country.  No cussing, adult content, or blood.
1. Prologue

The Further Adventures of

_**Scamper**_

The Penguin

Introduction:

_Hi! My name's Scamper. I'm the leader of my flock, and I go on a LOT of adventures. Since you're reading this, you've probably already heard of my adventures as a little chick. But if you haven't, I've basically been shot-at, nearly drowned, almost eaten, and scolded very hard during that period. Of course, I __**did**__ meet a lot of friends. Take Snowflake, for instance. She's my mate. I met her for the first time well before we even started school. She's very timid, but she's safe under my protection. Sure, her worrying can be a __**little**__ irritating at times, but she's my best friend and I wouldn't trade her for anything at all. Of course, when I'm not available, she's not afraid to take matters into her own flippers. Then there's Cowboy, a husky dog who was with the men from that animal protection program. Every summer, he comes with the animal protection people and helps us penguins out. Then there's Louie, a Macaroni Penguin that I haven't seen for two years already. He was a __**great**__ friend. He helped me and Snowflake escape from the clutches of evil poachers who were going to sell us to a zoo somewhere. No one knows where he is, and no one knows if he'll ever come back. But one day, all of that changed..._

* * *

Prologue: Winter of 1986

Scamper, Snowflake, Louie, and all the other penguins were congregated outside of the nests at the request of Mr. Feather. The sun was about to set, and pretty soon, the whole continent would be engulfed in darkness. Scamper was wondering what the meeting was all about, when he and Snowflake were tapped on the shoulder by Louie.

"Scamper, Snowflake," said Louie. "I've made up my mind. I'm not coming with you guys to the ocean." Scamper felt his heart sink. Snowflake was also depressed when she heard this. Louie had been their friend for quite awhile, and they all went through a lot together. Scamper and Louie were almost brothers.

"What?" asked Scamper. "Why?"

"Because," said Louie. "We were lucky enough to be able to find your flock, but I still have to find mine."

"Okay, but can Snowflake and I come with you?" asked Scamper. Snowflake nodded at this, agreeing with Scamper.

"You guys are already home," said Louie. "But I'm not. Not yet. I don't want to be responsible if I accidentally lose you guys."

"But Louie..." began Scamper. Mr. Feather cleared his throat and raised an eyebrow at the young penguins, indicating that he was ready to speak. Scamper and Louie stopped talking and listened to Mr. Feather's speech.

"We were all lucky to escape with our lives in the battle against the bad men," said Mr. Feather. "Soon it will be dark and cold again. But, we have to look forward to next year, when we'll need a new leader."

_I wonder why papa isn't the leader anymore,_ wondered Scamper. _After all, he's not dead or even injured. Hey, where **is** he anyway?_

"We'll need someone very brave," continued Mr. Feather. "And has an adventurous spirit. That's why I plan to nominate: Scamper!" Scamper was taken by surprise at this.

"Who, me?" asked Scamper. The whole crowd was agreeing with Mr. Feather's decision. Mr. Feather grinned at Scamper.

"Yes," said Mr. Feather. "I've appointed many of our leaders, and I know that you'll do a good job." Louie grinned too, putting a flipper around Scamper's shoulder.

"We know that you can count on Scamper," said Louie.

"Oh, Scamper, I'm so proud of you!" said Snowflake.

"This is a wonderful thing, Scamper," said Gracie, Scamper's Mother.

_These guys must be nuts,_ thought Scamper. _I can't lead all of these penguins by myself. I need someone to help me._ Scamper turned toward Louie. Maybe he could use this as an opportunity to keep Louie here.

"Louie," said Scamper. "What about you? Can you stay and help me?" Louie put his flipper around Scamper's shoulder again, this time in a "goodbye" gesture.

"You'll manage, alright," said Louie. "I've got my own home to find." Louie backed away from Scamper, finally ready to leave them.

"Bye, Scamper!" was the last thing Louie said before he set off on the great quest to find his home. The Adélie Penguins of Scamper's flock were starting to miss Louie already.

"So long, Louie!" "Good luck, Louie!" "Goodbye!" called the penguins to the shrinking figure strolling off into the sunset. Then a chopping noise could be heard in the air. The penguins looked up and saw a bright red helicopter hovering above their heads. It was the scientists' helicopter, ready to take them back from whence they came. The red-bearded man and his dog, Cowboy, were inside, looking down at the congregated penguins as they left Antarctica. It was the ending of one time, and the beginning of another. The season of dark and cold once again came upon Antarctica. The scientists returned to their homes, Louie set off to find his family, while Scamper led his flock of penguins back to the ocean to spend the long winter as they always had: in the protection and abundance of the sea.


	2. The Micro Atom Bomb

Chapter 1: The Micro-Atom Bomb

One day, in the land of Germany, two scientists working for a band of terrorists called Anti-Germans were working out a way to blow up entire countries without any large, suspicious equipment. They spent years on this project, to create a bomb more powerful than even the Atom Bomb.

* * *

In Spring of 1989 -three years after Scamper was elected the leader of his flock- they had successfully figured out a way to accomplish this, and a few months later, they had built the prototype. They called the leader of the rebels, General Adolph Hitler Von Rifle, and asked him to come to their laboratory. When the General got there, the two scientists showed him a brass device the size of a small haddock.

"Did you finish it?" asked Von Rifle with dark glee.

"Yes, we have," said the first scientist, whose name was Mud. Mud Pi. "The Micro-Atom Bomb. Ten times as small as the Atom Bomb, but one hundred times as powerful. It will blow up the entire country of Germany! And the government knows nothing about it!"

"Excellent," said Von Rifle. "Set it up. We'll blow up Germany and escape the country as soon as we can."

"Wait a second," said the other scientist, whose name was Dirt. Dirt Pore. "We don't even know if it works yet. We'll need to test it elsewhere first."

"When we're this close to success?" asked Von Rifle angrily. "Don't make me fire you! Now, tell me where you'll set up the bomb!"

"Okay, okay," said Mud. "It'll be in the marketplace of an unknown village in the middle of Germany. We'll put the bomb inside of this little dead haddock." He held up a dead haddock and shoved the bomb inside of it.

"We'll be able to keep tabs on it with this state-of-the-art tracking device," continued Mud, carrying a very large box with many knobs on it.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" said Von Rifle. "We've got a bomb to dispatch!"


	3. Nest Ambush

Chapter 2: Nest Ambush

_What is it with these guys?_ thought Scamper to himself with hatred as he watched a flock of seagulls charging from the nearby mountaintop down to their nests. By this time, Scamper and Snowflake had greeted the spring on the shore. They were both three years old by now, and were finally ready to participate in nesting season (Both Scamper and Snowflake, as well as everybody else, just knew that they would choose each other as mates for nesting season: something made it inevitable). Scamper built his nest on the spot that his father, Gilbert, made his. After the period of se… uh, "the use of reproductive organs", Snowflake had laid three eggs, and had left to the sea to replenish herself, while Scamper kept the eggs safe. Just prior to this, the males had stocked up a hefty pile of fish for each nest, so the penguins wouldn't be tempted to leave the nests for food, as they had wrongly done a few years ago, and lost many eggs as a consequence. So the male penguins stayed at the nests to protect the eggs from harm. But now, at the end of this period of the breeding process, came a flock of seagulls, with an appetite for some poached eggs.

"Here they come," said Scamper. "Why won't these cannibals just eat fish like any other bird?"

"This is not good at all," said Bert. Bert was Scamper's second-in-command. He was appointed that role when he helped with a situation with some fish the year before. He was very military-minded, and saw Scamper as his commander.

"I'll tear them limb from limb!" said Ice, a lean penguin with grayish-blue feathers and a very aggressive attitude.

"Everybody stay calm," said Scamper. "No fighting. Just cover your eggs, no matter what." The penguins remained on their brittle little eggs, and clutched the ground with their feet. And then the seagulls attacked. They swooped down, strafing the penguins, determined to snatch those tasty eggs from them. One of the seagulls flipped Ice over, and two more took his eggs. He saw the seagull take his eggs away and, knowing they were too far away to fight, looked around to find a nest to steal from. All of the penguin nests were sealed shut, so he probably couldn't take any from them. The only one not on his nest was Scamper. He saw that too many penguins were getting injured, and, being the leader of the flock, knew he had to help them. But before that, he took his three eggs and ran over to Bert.

"Bert," said Scamper. "I need you to protect my eggs while I go help the others."

"Sir, yes, sir," said Bert. Scamper put the three eggs into Bert's nest, but two of them were sticking out. Ice saw this as an opportunity to break the eighth commandment. He sneaked over to Bert's nest and stealthily snatched the two eggs. He sneaked back to his nest and covered the eggs as if nothing happened.

Scamper heard under the cawing of seagulls and the shouting of penguins, a splashing noise in the distance. He looked over his shoulder and saw a bunch of penguins jumping from the water and onto the shore.

_The girls are back,_ thought Scamper. _This is not good at all._ Thinking quickly on his webbed feet, Scamper quickly helped his father, Gilbert, onto his nest and ran over to a nest where a seagull was trying to attack. The gull was clawing at the penguins, and ended up taking his egg. Scamper had made up a plan for this right on the spot. As the seagull ascended with the egg in its talons, Scamper jumped into the air and grabbed the egg that the airborne bird was trying to steal. Scamper's weight dragged the seagull to the ground. The two birds tried desperately to claim the egg in a furious tug-of-war. It was tied very evenly. Scamper pulled the egg toward his chest as much as he could, and at the opportune moment, he bit one of the seagull's talons, just as he had done three years earlier when he was trying to escape from the clutches of a seagull. The seagull squealed in pain and surrendered the egg. The angry birds flew away from the penguin nests with many fewer eggs than they had hoped to achieve. Of course, even though they had the advantage, they never had a victory over Scamper, the Indiana Jones of the Antarctic World. Scamper held the egg with triumph, and returned the egg to its owner.

"Bert," inquired Scamper, after the turmoil was all over. "Two of my eggs are gone. Do you know where they are?"

"I don't know, sir," said Bert. "All I know is that you stuffed three eggs into my nest before you ran off to help the other penguins, and I laid on them throughout the whole thing, and when it was all over, there was only one." Scamper sighed.

"Oh, well," he said. "At least it wasn't a total loss. At least I still have one." Scamper always had an optimistic appraisal of most situations. That was one of the things that made him the hero he was today (And almost got him killed as a child a few years ago). But he still felt a small sense of loss, though, after having an abundant three eggs and being reduced to only one. Still, they had finished the brawl just before the girls arrived. Snowflake rushed over to Scamper's nest and hugged him.

"Oh, Scamper," she said. "I'm so glad to see you again. When I saw those seagulls attack…"

"It's alright, Snowflake," said Scamper. "None of our eggs were stolen. Not by seagulls, anyway." Snowflake was confused, and a bit afraid to ask what he meant.

"What do you mean?" she asked nervously.

"I mean," said Scamper. "I had to help the other penguins protect their eggs, so I gave the three eggs to Bert. When the attack was over, Bert was still on his nest, but there was only one of ours." Snowflake was astonished.

"Only one?" she echoed. "Where are the other two?"

"I don't know," said Scamper. "Don't be upset, though, we can still have _one_ baby chick."

"I know," said Snowflake. "But I'm still sad that we can't have three." She embraced Scamper in her sorrow.

"Me, too," said Scamper, patting her gently on the back. "But let's not worry about what we lost. One was enough for _our_ parents, and one is enough for us."

Ice, who was at his own nest, hugged his eggs with pride as his mate, Isabelle, ranted about how he was able to protect their eggs, but he was listening in on Scamper and Snowflake's conversation. Listening to the dismayed tears of Snowflake and the futile reassurances of Scamper, Ice began to feel somewhat sorry for the two, and then began to wonder if what he did was the right thing to do. He may've been an aggressive penguin, but he wasn't completely without morals. So in an attempt to set things right, Ice came clean to his spouse and took the two eggs to Scamper's nest.

"Scamper," said Ice. Scamper and Snowflake turned to Ice, slightly letting go of each other.

"Yes, Ice?" asked Scamper.

"Scamper," said Ice, taking a deep breath. "I lost both of my eggs today. I took two of your eggs from Bert's nest to make it seem like I didn't lose any. I thought that since nobody knew that my eggs were stolen that I could… take a few without anybody noticing. ."

"Alright," said Scamper. "May I have one of them back?" Both Ice and Snowflake were taken by surprise.

"One?" asked Ice. "Just one?"

"One?" asked a vexed Snowflake.

"You admitted your wrongs, and that's a good skill to have," said Scamper to Ice. "Consider the other egg yours." Ice smiled as he handed one of the eggs to Scamper. Scamper took the egg and put it in his nest, and looked toward Snowflake, who had an expression of dread on her face. She clearly thought that her mate had gone a little too far this time. She clearly didn't want to see Scamper just give one of their eggs away. Scamper thought of an easy way around this.

"There's only one condition," said Scamper. "I want that little chick to live to become an adult."

"Thanks, Scamper," said Ice giddily. "I promise!" Ice and Isabelle left for their own nest, while, in their own nest, Snowflake was furious at Scamper.

"Scamper!" she said angrily. "Why did you do that? Don't you remember how hard we worked for those eggs?"

"Snowflake," said Scamper. "It doesn't matter who takes care of the eggs. Besides, Ice promised he would take care of it." Snowflake didn't care about that.

"Scamper," she said. "You can't just give away our eggs to anybody who doesn't have one!"

"Stop that, Snowflake," said Scamper firmly. "You're starting to sound like a prideful jerk." Snowflake realized this, and was embarrassed.

"I'm sorry, Scamper," said Snowflake honestly. "You're right, two's enough for us." The two penguins made up, and over the next few months, the eggs hatched gradually.


	4. The Adventures of the Micro Atom Bomb

Chapter 3: The Adventures of the Micro-Atom Bomb

General Von Rifle and the two scientists went to the marketplace of a small town near the center of Germany, casually looking around, with intentions to put the haddock with the other fish. They stopped when they arrived at the fish stands.

"Are you ready to dispatch the bomb?" asked Von Rifle.

"Ready," said Dirt. He pulled the bomb -tucked safely in a haddock's clothing- out of his pocket and tossed it into the nearest barrel of assorted fish.

"The bomb has been set to go off in four months," said Mud. "That'll give us time to evacuate the country and have enough time in-between for people not to become suspicious." Von Rifle chuckled evilly.

"Now, there will be Germany no more," he chuckled. Dirt joined Von Rifle in his chorus of evil. Those two antagonists were laughing at their evil triumph, but Mud only stared at the readouts on the display in horror, which pinpointed the location of the bomb to be inside the mail truck that passed them.

"NO!" said Mud.

"What is it?" asked Von Rifle angrily.

"The bomb!" said Mud. "It's on the mail truck!"

"What? How?" asked Dirt.

"I don't know," said Mud. "I probably put it inside a shipping crate by accident…" It was here that Von Rifle started to strangle Mud.

"You idiot!" he shouted. "How could you make a flub like that?"

"There's no time to argue!" said Dirt. "We have to retrieve that bomb and blow up Germany!"

The Anti-German leaders tracked the bomb down with Mud's handy tracking device. The mail truck led to an airplane, which shipped the bomb all the way to South America. There, they kept looking for the bomb, and they were never more than three miles away from it. The bomb eventually made its way to a fish market, trying an experiment on fish from around the world. When he smelled the bomb, still in the guise of a dead fish, he was disgusted.

"Ugh," he said. "What happened to this fish? Did they marinate it in toxic waste? Throw it out!" He took the bomb and threw it out the window into the sea.


	5. The Little Penguins

Chapter 4: The Little Penguins

While the Anti-Germans were chasing the bomb, the penguin's eggs were hatching into lovely little penguin chicks. When Scamper and Snowflake's eggs hatched, both children had very familiar personalities.

"Scamper!" called Snowflake to Scamper, who was busy talking his dad, Gilbert. Scamper heard this, and turned around to see Snowflake, holding a little black-feathered penguin in her flippers and standing next to a little blue-feathered penguin.

"Oh, wow!" said Scamper. "I gotta go, Papa."

"Go ahead, Scamper," said Gilbert. Scamper thanked his father and dashed over to his nest, to greet their new penguin chicks. Snowflake was happy, too.

"Aren't they precious?" asked Snowflake lovingly.

"Sure," said Scamper. _Why is it that mothers always use those weird adjectives to describe their children?_

"They'll need names," said Snowflake. "What should we call them?" Scamper's eyes were on the little blue penguin. He had a puffed up tuft of feathers on his chest, indicating that he was male. He was very energetic, and he liked to run around and jump in the air.

"He's a chip off the old block," said Scamper. "He likes to run around as much as I did as a kid."

"So what do you want to name him?" asked Snowflake.

"Well, definitely not Scamper Jr.," said Scamper firmly. "We can be a little more creative than that…"

"How about Walker, then?" suggested Snowflake. Scamper liked this.

"Yeah," he agreed. "That's it. We'll call him Walker." The black penguin didn't have this tuft of feathers, indicating that she was female. She was looking closely at the snow, examining all of the little snowflakes with awe.

"Well," said Scamper. "She likes to look at things. I can see her being really smart someday. If she keeps this up, she'll be as wise as Mr. Feather and as smart as…" Scamper's voice trailed off here.

"As smart as who, Scamper?" asked Snowflake.

"As smart as Louie," said Scamper. "Remember?" Snowflake was reminded of their good friend who left to find his family, oh, so long ago.

"We haven't seen him since he left two years ago," said Snowflake. "I hope he's alright."

"He's probably safe at home by now, with his family," said Scamper. "Like this little girl is with us. Let's pay a tribute to Louie. Let's call her Louise."

"Yeah," said Snowflake. "I like that. Walker and Louise." So the two little penguins were called Walker and Louise. At that moment, Ice and Isabelle came up to Scamper and Snowflake to show them the new child.

"Scamper, Snowflake, this is Maria," said Isabelle. "Say hello, Maria."

"Hello," said little Maria. "Hello."

"Hello," said little Walker. "Hello!" The two penguins went into a playful fit of "hellos".

"Alright, Maria," said Ice. "That's enough. Maria, she only wanted you to say it once. Maria? Maria? MARIA!" Ice's little penguin paid no attention to him.

"AARGH!" said Ice, kicking his daughter very hard in the tail, much to the dreadful surprise of his mate. The little penguin fell over, and was crying from the pain.

"Ice!" said Isabelle in shock. Walker was shocked at this, and afraid. Gilbert came to the rescue.

"Calm down, Ice," said Gilbert, picking up Maria. "They're just playing together."

"I kept telling her to cut it out," said Ice. "She deserved that kick."

"Well," said Gilbert. "I've found in the past that it's not good to expect too much from your children. If she still doesn't listen to you after six months, when she's in school, _then_ you can kick her, because she should know better. But right now, she doesn't. Can you please try to be more careful with her?" Ice remained silent.

"Ice," said Gilbert. "You have to be less hostile. You're a father now. That baby is your responsibility."

"Who do you think you are, the leader of the flock?" said Ice.

"I _was_," said Gilbert. "Three years ago. But I'm not anymore." On that note, he left the penguins to their children. Again, Scamper was reminded of a question he had, back two years ago, right before he became the leader of his flock: why was Gilbert no longer the leader when he was still alive and well? He never came up with a reasonable answer to that question, and it disturbed him very much.

Scamper and Snowflake, like any other penguin couple, took turns going out to sea and getting food for their young. By that point, everybody was telling Snowflake that she wasn't as adventurous as Scamper was. She didn't want to accept that, because she knew that she was just as adventurous as Scamper. She was just more prone to worry. So to prove something, both to those penguins and to herself, her trip for food took her outside of the Antarctic Circle. She found an abundance of fish, and they all were very good. Except for one. One fish wasn't moving at all, and it tasted very funny. Snowflake decided not to give this one to the kids, and digested it herself. She continued on her quest, not knowing how much that one fish would affect her over the course of the next few months.


	6. Gilbert's Secret Threat

Chapter 5: Gilbert's Secret Threat

Finally, Snowflake returned to Antarctica, and saw Scamper in the nest with his kids, telling them stories of his adventures past.

"The leopard seal had us trapped on our own iceberg," said Scamper. "And no matter how much ice we threw at it, it wouldn't give up. It was determined to have us for its breakfast. We were about to be eaten by it, when all of the sudden, a gigantic killer whale broke through the iceberg and chased off the seal. Our iceberg was greatly reduced in size, but we managed to survive yet another day out at sea."

"Wow," said Walker. "You've been on the greatest adventures, papa!" Scamper chuckled at this, and saw Snowflake returning from her trip.

"Snowflake's back," said Scamper. The kids turned around and saw their mother coming towards them.

"Mama's back!" said Louise. The kids got up and ran to hug their mother. Scamper got up and walked to hug his mate.

"Hi, Scamper," said Snowflake.

"Hi, Snowflake," said Scamper. The two penguins hugged each other lovingly.

"Papa," asked Walker. "Can you tell us the next story before you leave again?"

"Now, kids," said Scamper. "I have to leave now to get more food for you."

"Aw, come on papa, please?" begged Louise.

"Just one more?" pleaded Walker.

"Oh, okay," smiled Scamper. He and Snowflake sat down to tell their kids about the bad men.

"Alright," said Scamper. "Your mother and I were able to survive for a few more days before we were rescued by a bunch of men on a boat. But, then we realized that…"

"Scamper, sir!" called Bert, running up to them. "Scamper, sir, come quick!" Scamper stopped the story and turned around to face Bert.

"What is it, Bert?" asked Scamper.

"It's about your father, sir!" said Bert. Scamper got up immediately.

"Okay, I'm on it," said Scamper. "Where is he?"

"Over that hill, sir!" said Bert.

"But papa," whined Walker. "You didn't finish the story."

"I'll finish it later," said Scamper. "Right now, I've got bigger problems to deal with." Scamper and Bert went off to see what the deal was, leaving Snowflake to care for the children.

* * *

When Scamper and Bert arrived to where Gilbert was, he was being supported by Gracie, and examined by Mr. Feather.

"Papa," said Scamper. "Are you alright?"

"I… don't know," said Gilbert weakly. Scamper touched his father's flipper.

"OW!" he said, pulling his flipper away.

"Mr. Feather, what's wrong with my papa?" asked Scamper. Mr. Feather had a grim look on his face.

"Should we tell him?" asked Mr. Feather. Gilbert nodded. Mr. Feather sighed.

"Scamper, have you ever wondered why you were appointed the leader in the first place?" asked Mr. Feather.

"All the time," said Scamper.

"Do you remember the attack from the bad men just before your coronation?" asked Mr. Feather.

"Yeah," said Scamper. "We all thought he was dead when he didn't come back right away. It was a good thing I saved him. But he was alright after that, wasn't he?"

"Wrong," said Mr. Feather. "During the fighting, he was attacked by one of the bad men. That man injected a poison in him. After the fight, he wasn't feeling well, and Rosie diagnosed him with poisoning. He was quarantined for the rest of the year, which was why he wasn't present during your coronation. The poison gives immediate pain, then subsides for a few years, and then, when you least expect it, it returns to kill you."

"So the poison's back?" asked Scamper.

"I'm afraid so," said Mr. Feather. "I estimate that he has about four months of life left. That should give him plenty of time to make out his will."

"His will?" squeaked Scamper. "You mean we can't do anything?"

"I'm sorry, Scamper," said Mr. Feather. "Once he's been poisoned, there's nothing we can do."

"We'll just see about that," said Scamper. "Those men are really smart, they must have a cure for it. I'll leave tomorrow to find them and…"

"Scamper, Scamper, Scamper," said Mr. Feather. "Haven't you been paying any attention to my logic classes? I'm afraid your father doesn't stand a chance."

"That's what you said about Scamper and Snowflake when they were lost at sea," said Gilbert weakly. "But they made it back safely."

"Besides, Mr. Feather," said Scamper. "You're the one always telling me to explore with my mind."

"Scamper!" snapped Mr. Feather. "You still don't understand me! You _never_ understood me, and you'll never _will_! I'm telling you clearly that your father is as good as dead!"

"Do it, Scamper," said a mournful Gracie. "Try to save him."

"I promise, mama," said Scamper. "I'll do my best."


	7. Kidnapped!

Chapter 6: Kidnapped!

The next day, Snowflake and Bert were combing the village for Scamper, with some important news at hand.

"Scamper!" called Snowflake.

"Scamper, sir!" called Bert. Scamper was saying goodbye to his mother and his poisoned father. Scamper was about to leave to find a cure, when he heard the calls. He peeked his head over the hill. He motioned for the two penguins to come over, and Snowflake and Bert followed.

"What's wrong?" asked Scamper.

"There's a UAB approaching, sir!" said Bert. A UAB was an Unidentified Approaching Boat. This potentially meant danger.

"Is everybody safe in the Burrows?" asked Scamper.

"Yes, sir!" said Bert. The Burrows were the last safe hiding place for the penguins, dug by Cowboy at the request of Scamper during one of their stays. It consisted of one large main section that led to dozens of little pockets to hide in.

"Alright," said Scamper. "I'll check it out. You two help my dad into the burrows." Snowflake and Bert were helping Gilbert to the Burrows while Scamper was sneaking behind the hills, making sure their new company wouldn't be able to see them. Scamper peeked his head over the tip of the hill to try to figure out whether the UAB was a friend or foe. It wasn't like any ship he recognized. It was dark green with a bunch of men with… guns? They were definitely foe. Scamper ran back to the burrows as quickly as his webbed feet could carry him. He ducked inside the entrance, where the other penguins were waiting for an identification.

"What kind of boat is it, Scamper?" asked a worried Snowflake.

"It's a foe, I saw their guns," said Scamper. "Everybody into the pockets!" All of the penguins dashed into the pockets of the burrows. These pockets were obscured from view of the main entrance, and there were enough to accommodate all of the penguins. Gilbert was helped into his pocket by Gracie and Mr. Feather. They all waited in the cramped pockets in fear. Well, all except Walker.

"This is so COOL!" said Walker.

"SHHH!" shushed Snowflake and Louise. They weren't in the mood to get shot down by these bad men today.

"Walker, just stay calm," said Scamper.

"I'm not scared," said Walker bravely.

"But you're not _[i]calm[/i]_, either," said Scamper. "You have to be quiet!" Just then, footsteps crunching in the snow could be heard outside. This was not good at all.

"Where do you think the bomb went?" asked Dirt Pore to Mud Pi. They were hiking around Antarctica with absolutely no idea how a bomb meant for Germany could wind up all the way here.

"I think they went this way," said Mud. "According to the readouts, the bomb is underground." The two scientists turned in the direction the needle on the device was pointing, and saw a small cave.

"How convenient," said Dirt. The two scientists crawled into the cave and found virtually nothing.

"There's nothing in here," said Dirt, on his hands and knees.

"But the readouts say that there is," said Mud, also on his hands and knees. "I still think we should check this place out."

"But what if there's a polar bear in here?" asked Dirt.

"Or maybe a flock of penguins?" suggested Mud.

"That's ridiculous: penguins don't dig burrows," said Dirt.

"But I'm looking at a few penguins right now," said Mud. Dirt turned around and saw a few penguins taking a peek at their new guests.

"The readouts say the bomb is in that pocket," said Mud. "Let's go!" The two scientists crawled inside the pocket.

Scamper and his family were all shocked to see that the men chose their pocket to look at. One of them was holding a small gun, the other one was holding a strange, large device. Snowflake was hiding behind Scamper.

"It looks like the bomb's behind this penguin," said the one with the box, referring to Scamper. He held the box at Scamper, and moved it a bit to the right, and a bit to the left. The needle pointed to the space behind Scamper.

"It [i]is[/i] behind this penguin," said the man with the box. He reached forward to push Scamper out of the way. Scamper tried to nip him on the finger, but the gloves were too thick. The man with the box just laughed.

"What's so funny about [i]this[/i], Mud?" asked the man with the gun.

"I'm fine, Dirt," said Mud. "My gloves are just too thick for the poor penguin to bite through." He pulled his hand away, pulling Scamper away as well, revealing Snowflake. Mud pulled Snowflake toward him. He looked behind her, around her, and under her, but there was no bomb.

"The tracking device just points to her," said Mud. Snowflake trembled in fear. Dirt was laughing his guts out.

"State-of-the-art technology?" he guffawed. "It must be defective, then! HAHAHA!" Mud didn't find this amusing.

"Don't you remember?" asked Mud. "We put the bomb in a fish suit. It must've fallen into the water, and this penguin swallowed it." Snowflake immediately remembered the bad-tasting fish she swallowed, and assumed that this was the bomb that they were talking about. But she had no idea what a bomb was.

"Scamper, what's a bomb?" asked a panicked Snowflake.

"I don't know," said Scamper. "Just stay calm." The men handcuffed Snowflake's foot to their wrists and picked her up and carried her away. Snowflake was desperately trying to peck through the handcuffs, nip her captors, and calling Scamper for help, but the attempts were futile. Scamper couldn't believe what was happening. These new bad men were kidnapping his best friend. Scamper ran to stop them, but Dirt pointed his gun at Scamper. Scamper immediately stopped and dashed into the nearest pocket to avoid the bullet. The two men crawled out of the burrows with Snowflake as their captive. Scamper rushed out of the burrows and ran faster than he ever ran before (And he ran pretty fast in his childhood) to catch the kidnappers. Mud and Dirt were already at their rowboat, about to row to their big boat, when Scamper came over the hill. Scamper rushed as fast as he could toward the boat, but a gunshot from Dirt hit him right in the leg. Scamper sprawled out on the snowy surface, with a pain in his leg, hearing Snowflake's cries growing fainter and fainter. He looked ahead at the little boat being pulled onto the bigger boat, and the two evil scientists bringing Snowflake onto the ship. He couldn't believe it. He lost his mate. He lost his best friend. And the rest of the penguins followed over the hill and saw Scamper sprawled out on the snow and in pain, both physically and emotionally.

"Snowflake's in trouble," said Scamper, getting up as fast as he could. "I have to go save her!"

"Forget about her," said Ice. "Find another girl. That penguin was a complete and total wimp…"

"That's my best friend you're talking about," growled Scamper, limping over to Ice. "We've been that way since we were born and I can't just let her go like that!"

"C'mon, Scamper," said Ice. "I just move on to a different girl every year. It's not like it's illegal or anything."

"_Why_ is it not illegal?" asked Scamper. "Because everybody else does it? Because it brings you pleasure?" Ice shut up, and walked off, but not before kicking a small rift of snow in Scamper's direction.

"Scamper, sir!" said Bert. "It's going to be rough out there. You may need me to help you."

"No, Bert," said Scamper. "You have to stay here and watch after the flock."

"But, sir," said Bert. "You can't just go out there all alone!"

"I don't plan on going alone," said Scamper. "But no one here can help me." And with that, he limped off into the icy wilderness, to find an old friend he hadn't seen in a long, long time.


	8. Louie and the Antarctic Desert

Chapter 7: Louie and the Antarctic Desert

Louie had spent the last two years of his life trying to find his flock of Macaroni Penguins, but without much luck. After wandering around in circles for a good chunk of his life, all he had found was a plethora of predators, and by now, a grueling two years after his initial departure, the skin under his feathers was covered in callus and scabs. But he never gave up. He was determined to find his family or die trying. Right now, he was trudging through an ice storm, with winds so thick with ice that he couldn't see very far ahead. But at that one special moment…

"Louie! You're alive!" called a very familiar voice from behind. Louie turned around, with the false hope that this would be one of his parents. He saw the silhouette against the backdrop of the winds blowing.

"Papa?" called Louie. "Papa? Is that you?" Louie and the mysterious penguin figure trudged toward each other.

"Who are you?" asked Louie over the howling winds of the storm. "Who are you?" When they were close enough to do so, Louie saw a face he barely recognized, and couldn't quite make out.

"Who are you?" asked Louie a third time over the howling winds of the storm.

"Louie, don't you remember?" asked the figure over the howling winds of the storm. "It's me, Scamper! I need your help…" Louie instantly realized, but wasn't quite sure, that the penguin he met was Scamper, the penguin he met years ago.

"Scamper?" asked Louie. "You mean the penguin who helped me escape from those bad men a few years ago?"

"Yeah, that one!" said Scamper, whom Louie was now pretty sure he was who he claimed to be.

"What are you doing _here_, in the middle of nowhere?" asked Louie.

"Well, Snowflake was kidnapped a few days ago and I need your help to rescue her!" said Scamper. Louie was lost for a second.

"Snowflake…" he mused, racking his brain for a recollection. "Wasn't she your pessimistic companion?"

"Yeah!" said Scamper. "And now she's trapped on a boat out at sea! She swallowed something called a bomb! Do you know what that is?"

"Beats me!" said Louie. "I've never heard of it in my life!"

"Well, do you think you can help me find her?" asked Scamper.

"Listen, pal!" said Louie. "I don't know if you've noticed, but we're hundreds of miles away from any water, and I'm _still_ trying to find my family! I don't have time to do anything else!"

"But you've been stuck out here for two years!" argued Scamper. "You've had plenty of time to find your family, and you still do! But Snowflake is in danger, and they're probably going to kill her!"

"Look, Scamper," said Louie. "You've got your problems and I've got mine." Louie turned around and walked away. By now, the winds were dying down, slowing to less violent speeds.

"Then why don't we solve them together?" asked Scamper. Louie stopped in his tracks and turned around.

"You mean, I help you find Snowflake and you help me find my family?" confirmed Louie.

"Yeah," said Scamper. "And if we rescue Snowflake first, she'll be able to help us find your family, too." Louie didn't have to negotiate any further.

"It's a deal," said Louie.


End file.
